Thursday, December 13, 2007

It's a minor, not a major


I spent the evening in hospital with Dad yesterday. All throughout the night the nurses kept an hourly watch on his blood pressure level and dropped by to give him blood pressure medication. The chart above shows the blood pressure levels - as you can see it goes up and down (but the latest reading is around 170/105). We were rather entertained by getting to know a male nurse trainee who's doing a one month attachment with Pantai Medical under a Columbia Asia scholarship. He's such an affable and friendly chap with excellent bedside manners. Heh. A number of relatives came a visiting that night itself and we left around 9.30pm at the end of visiting hours.

This morning, we got the news around mid-morning that the specialist was ordering an MRI scan for Dad. In between, friends dropped by and more relatives came in the afternoon. Of course, we had to listen to the, "Why didn't you take better care of him / why did this happen" mini-lectures. Lawl. Like anyone ever wishes for these sort of things to happen?

Anyway, the specialist has classified it as a minor stroke and they are monitoring Dad right now because this is the most crucial period of time - the five days after. It is a mini-miracle in itself already that he has no problem whatsoever with his speech and his thinking faculties (not like
this list - only the motor control part). He is still able to grip things with his right hand and move about, just that the control is not quite all there and little things like aiming to reach out and touch something might be off by one or two inches. The physiotherapist came by today as well and made Dad run through a series of exercises to test the range of his motor control. His walk is now a shuffle with the walker and lifting his hand above his head takes an effort but I am glad that his spirit is not dampened and we are all holding strong.

Well, now I'm back home to collect some stuff for Dad before we head off again to the hospital. I'll be back at work tomorrow (haha, parental orders!); hopefully they discharge Dad soon.

16 spins:

L B said...

Glad things are slightly smoother now.. Have to look after your dad good, yeah? :-) Big Hugs for you too, for being such a filial daughter..

zewt said...

wishing your dad a very very speedy recovery.

mistipurple said...

remember to take care of yourself too ya? and tell mum to sleep when she can too. i wish your dad complete recovery soon.

Tine said...

Wishing your dad a speedy recovery, Rinnah. God bless.

rinnah said...

l b: It's getting better and better day by day. :o) *hugs*

zewt: Thanks! Please do continue to pray for a complete recovery for him...

mistipurple: I will. Gotta take care of both Mum and Dad now. Thanks and please do keep him in prayer.

tine: Thanks Tine! *hugs*

rainbow angeles said...

Rinnah's Daddy!!! Please get well soon!! I belanja you green tea, ok uncle? ;)

*peluk peluk Rinnah & Rinnah's Mommy*

kyh said...

i'm sure he'll recover fast. :)

u muz take care of urself too!

mistipurple said...

*morning hugs*
*virtual brands essence of chicken* gloop now for strength. not made from cocka, it's safe. :P

Anonymous said...

That's indeed great news! I pray for your Daddy's speedy recovery.

narrowband said...

I'm relieved to know your daddy's doing well! Happy weekend!! :D

mistipurple said...

how is dad?

Doreen said...

Get well soon Rinnah's dad.

may said...

glad to hear he's doing better. and able to go home too, yippee! take care, Rinnah's Daddy... *brings some chicken soup*

Winn said...

hope ur papa gets well soon. he will hes on the road of discovery.teman him whenever u can and bring the precious smiles ya:)

Anonymous said...

Rinnah, I tot I had commented on ur previous post but perhaps there was an error.

I wanted to warn u to not let ur guard down about ur dad. My dad went thru the exact same thing as ur dad. The MC did not detect stroke at first until after a few more test. Then they told us it was a minor stroke. We were all relieved. At least my dad was ok & discharged.

Less than a month passed and he got a 2nd stroke. This time it did a lot of damage. My dad can't speak anymore and is in a wheel chair. Part of him is paralysed.

Someone needs to take care and monitor ur dad like a hawk, what he eats, what he drinks, etc. Taking medication is crucial.

None of us (my family) did. We were relieve it was over (the 1st stroke) and let him be. We only told him to take his meds but never really checked if he did.

rinnah said...

angel: Green tea is a stimulant wor... but you can belanja me... I'll take on Daddy's behalf. Hehehe. *hugs back*

kyh: Luckily he is still quite 'young' so recovery will be smoother than others. I am so tired now...

mistipurple: Ha! Dyk my mum has been taking that to keep up her strength during this period of time? Hehe. Cocka's one I dunwan! LOL!

giddy tiger: Thank you for your prayers!

narrowband: I want another weekend! Thank God for holidays...

mistipurple: Eh, I'm replying comments so late... but you should have seen the latest update by now. Thanks for asking!

doreen: He's getting better day by day!

may: Ooo... yummy chicken soup! Whoopee!

winn: Yeap, spending all my time with him, even with my laptop! Lawl. I'm addicted to the Internet. But I get to show him a website or two while I'm at it.

adrian: No comment on the last post worr... Blogger sot sot tei already. :o) Ooo... thanks for the warning. My mum and I are vigilantly watching dad and making sure he takes his meds as well as keep to a strict diet no matter how he complains! *grin*